Introspective
by scormalfoys
Summary: "It was sweet and young and she thought, in a fleeting moment, that even the Milky Way would be jealous of how many stars flared between them." — Following the growth of Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy, and Alice Longbottom. A story of beginnings and endings and every idiotic, brilliant, terrible, wonderful moment in-between.
1. January 1st, 2023

"Happy New Year, Rose!" Alice said, installing herself next to Rose on the sofa.

"Happy New Year, Alice," Rose replied, her voice soft. Rose sat with her knees pulled to her chest and her hands circling a bottle of Butterbeer protectively.

"You look upset," Alice stated, scooting forward on the sofa to look at Rose's face.

Rose turned her head to meet Alice's aureate eyes and she offered Alice a half-smile, "I'm okay," she said lightly. Twin crimson kisses adorned Alice's cheeks and Rose wondered idly if they were from Constance Parkinson.

Alice eyed her skeptically, "I know you're not okay, Rose," she whispered and Rose held her breath, hoping Alice would choose the option Rose wanted, "but I won't push it," Alice rested a hand firmly on Rose's knee, "because you know that you are entirely free to come tell me anytime. Literally anytime."

Rose nodded, relieved Alice wasn't pressing the matter, "I know."

Alice smiled but the smile was somber and Rose found herself wishing it would go away. She felt Alice slip a slender arm around Rose's shoulders and pull Rose into her. Rose leaned her head on Alice's shoulder and took a deep breath. It didn't feel like much of a new year yet.

Alice squeezed Rose's shoulder once more before letting go, "Do you still want to stay? I can walk you back to your common room if you'd like, since it's so late."

"Oh, I'm okay getting back on my own," Rose assured her, "I doubt anyone is really in the corridors right now anyway, what with all the parties happening."

"Okay, if you're sure," Alice said warily, she wasn't entirely sure how upset Rose was.

"I am," Rose smiled for effect, "Besides, I'm guessing those lipstick marks are from Constance," Alice blushed, "and I know you've liked her for a good month and a half now so I think you should try and find her instead of walking me to my common room."

"If you insist," Alice said, "See you tomorrow," and then she was gone into the crowd.

Rose sighed to herself before taking one more sip of Butterbeer and then setting the bottle on the table. She stood up and straightened her shirt, brushing away invisible dust. Rose took a moment to look around the Gryffindor common room, '_You could have been here_,' she thought to herself, '_surrounded by warm colors_.' Instead, Rose resided in a tower lined with white marble, bookshelves, and sapphire linens. It was fine though, Rose didn't mind the cold marble much, she thought it rather beautiful sometimes. She only sometimes wished for the warmth of Alice's Gryffindor common room.

Rose weeded through warm bodies to find her way to the exit, bumping against very publically active couples and drunken students who thought they were dancers. She burst from the room with a deep breath of the clear air outside. Upon closing the portrait-hole, she found the Fat Lady eyeing her.

"Hello," Rose said, as she tugged her dad's old Weasley jumper over her head.

"You're leaving terribly early," the Fat Lady said simply, smoothing her painted dress.

"I wasn't feeling too well," Rose said honestly.

"Ah, feel better then," the Lady said, "and if you see your Longbottom friend, do tell her that I am exhausted of all the parties these Gryffindor's throw. I hear she's on their party-planning force."

Rose smiled humorously, "I'll let her know."

The Fat Lady nodded appreciatively at Rose and then Rose was walking down the corridor, her feet carrying her on a familiar route. A turn here, a shortcut here, and many stairs later, Rose arrived in front of the Ravenclaw entrance.

The bronze eagle stretched to life as Rose approached, "What is the truth?"

Rose thought for a moment before responding, "Truth is a concept."

The eagle solidified and the door swung open, allowing Rose to take a breath of relief. Answering still made her nervous, despite this being her sixth year of it. She entered the common room as quietly as could be managed, her shoes echoing against the marble flooring.

The common room appeared empty, something that didn't surprise Rose considering the occasion. She stepped towards the central area where a fire glowed kindly and made towards a lavish blue settee. The glowing stars were sprinkled generously across the ceiling, mimicking the outside sky exactly, and Rose found herself smiling as she noted the constellation of Cancer, her own sign. Upon coming around to the seating area, Rose nearly jumped at the sight of a blond boy reading on the exact settee she had planned to capture.

The boy, now startled, looked up at the sound of Rose's gasp, "Rose?" he asked, shoving his falling glasses farther up his nose.

"Scorpius?" Rose responded as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the common area.

He nodded, "What are you doing here?"

"I came back from a party, what are you doing down here? It's gone past one." Rose said, checking her watch.

Scorpius looked at his own watch before his eyebrows rose, "Oh. That it is. I honestly hadn't noticed," he said sheepishly.

Rose sat down on the pouf across from him, "What are you reading?" she inquired, a common question in Ravenclaw Tower.

Scorpius held up the cover for her to see, "_An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms_."

"Ah," Rose said, smiling slightly, "A light read."

Scorpius grinned back, "Yeah, I always read light during holiday," he said, "No, but seriously, this thing is giving me a headache. It's like, I think I've got the language peculiarities down but then there's so many different excerpts and, for some unknown reason, each of these eighteenth century wizards writes a little differently."

Rose nodded sympathetically, "Have you read _Transformation Through the Ages_ yet? When it says 'through the ages' it actually adheres to the manner of speaking for each age. It's bleeding awful."

"Ah, Rose," Scorpius said, slinking down in the settee and resting the book on his face, "Why do we do this to ourselves? We could be reading books like the ones Alice reads but instead, here we are, reading text that should not be read by sixteen-year-old students." His voice is a low mumble from under the book pages and Rose finds herself smiling fondly as she knows he can't currently see her.

"No idea, Scorpius," she said and it really did seem to be true because all she could focus on was the steady rise and fall of his chest, "no idea."

He pulled the book off his face and placed it on his chest, "How was it?" he asked, turning his head to face her.

"How was what?" she questioned, slightly thrown by the abrupt subject change.

"The New Year's party."

"Oh, it was okay," Rose replied, her voice growing quiet.

Scorpius quirked an eyebrow, "Something happen?"

"No."

"Rose. I know you're lying."

"Okay."

"I won't push it," Scorpius said.

"Thanks," Rose mumbled, "Alice said the same thing."

"I'm going to assume she also said you could tell her anytime?" he asked.

Rose nodded.

"Same goes for me," Scorpius said, his voice soothing like waves lapping at a shore, "Though I hope you already knew that."

Rose nodded again and then opened her mouth, letting the words fall off her tongue before she could stop them, "It's kind of dumb, I think, but, I don't know, I was sort of hoping maybe I'd get a New Year's kiss this year," she glanced up at him, "I know. It's stupid."

Scorpius shook his head, "No, I don't think it's stupid at all. I thought about that too, you know, about me."

Rose looked at him questioningly, "But you're… Good-looking. You could easily kiss someone."

"And you're beautiful, Rose," he replied easily, "What a backwards world, huh? Neither a good-looking boy or a beautiful girl can get a New Year's kiss."

"Yeah but, oh well, there's always next—" Rose started to say.

"I would kiss you, Rose," Scorpius said suddenly, his voice more confident than usual.

Rose faltered, "What?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"I would kiss you," he said, quieter this time, "if you let me, I would kiss you."

"So kiss me," Rose breathed and then Scorpius was leaning across the few inches of space between the settee and the pouf. He kept leaning and Rose felt her own body lean towards his.

And then Scorpius Malfoy pressed his lips to her own and Rose could have sworn, a thousand galaxies lived and died in that kiss. The hand he had on her cheek stammered out stardust and the hand Rose had on his leg drew sparks from his jeans.

Rose didn't ever want it to end, Scorpius' lips reminded her of a fireplace, warm and comforting. He was so gentle when he kissed her, his mouth slowly pressing against her own over and over again, finding a new angle each time. It was sweet and young and she thought, in a fleeting moment, that even the Milky Way would be jealous of how many stars flared between them.

When Scorpius finally drew his lips away, he touched his forehead to Rose's. His breath came out in soft puffs that made Rose want to wrap him in her arms. She looked up at his eyes and giggled.

"What?" Scorpius asked, his smile goofy and, Rose thought, adorable.

"Your glasses," she said, "They're all… Askew."

"Oh well," his smile grew, "It was worth it."

Rose smiled back and for the first time in quite awhile, it felt real.


	2. January 4th, 2023

A/N: The last chapter was January 1st, 2023 in case you needed a refresher.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter world.

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The corridors were silent and still except for the flickers of the torches and the soft tapping of Rose's shoes on the stone floor. The younger students would all be in their houses and it was likely the older students would be as well, considering the small hour between now and curfew. Not Rose though, Rose was making her way towards the Hogwarts kitchen, her stomach grumbling lowly now and then.

It had been the class before lunch, Transfiguration, and Scorpius had been seated beside Rose as usual. He had passed her a tiny slip of paper that sent a thrill through her heart. They'd been blushing and bumbling for the past three days and she'd hoped this was the sort of note she'd been hoping for. It read:

_Rose —_

_Please meet me outside the Hogwarts kitchen at eight tonight. Don't eat a big dinner._

— _Scorpius_

It had been exactly the sort of note Rose had been hoping for.

Upon turning into the corridor of the kitchens entrance, Rose's eyes landed on Scorpius. He was leaning against the stone walls, a book in hand, dressed in dark jeans and gray sweater with a wicker basket at his feet. Rose was glad she'd had the idea to change out of her school uniform as well and into a pair of jeans and a floral long-sleeve tee-shirt. Scorpius looked up when he heard her footsteps, a smile breaking his face, and crossed the distance to grab her hand, tucking his small paperback in his pocket as he went.

"C'mon, Rose, big evening planned," he said, leading her towards the kitchens, "You look really pretty, by the way." Scorpius paused and turned around, "That wasn't an afterthought, in case you thought so, it was actually the first thing I thought."

Rose felt her cheeks tinge pink, "Thank you," she said, her voice like melted silver, "You look really nice as well."

"Thanks, Rosie," he said, smiling lightly. Then he was pulling her towards the kitchens again, tickling the pear, and leading them through.

"Are you going to tell me the plan?" Rose asked, arching an eyebrow and grinning.

"Sort of," Scorpius responded, "Basically, I've got this basket here," he lifted the hand holding the basket, "and we're going to fill it with food. Also, I'm really sorry for the timing. I started to realize that I should have planned to do this while everyone else was having dinner so we wouldn't be starving."

Rose laughed, "It's fine, I'm not that hungry. I had some food at dinner."

"Great," he smiled widely, "Now, what do you want to eat?"

They spent the next half-hour filling the internally-expanded basket with two small shepherd's pies, a bowl of salad, an apple pie, and a rather large jug of pumpkin juice. The half-hour also consisted of Scorpius making ridiculous jokes and Rose laughing wonderfully at said jokes.

"That all, you think?" Scorpius asked.

Rose looked around the room and nodded, "I think so. Did you get everything you wanted to get?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said and he grabbed Rose's hand again, "We're good to go then." He led her out of the kitchens and started down the hallway.

"Where to now?" Rose asked, "Are we going to eat all this in the common room?"

Scorpius smiled and shook his head, "No, somewhere else but it's a surprise."

Rose huffed, "Fine."

When Scorpius laughed, she asked, "What are you laughing about?"

"You're cute, that's all," he said it so nonchalantly that Rose would have thought he said it all the time if she hadn't noticed the blush spreading across his face.

"You're cute too," she said softly, giving his hand a small squeeze.

They climbed several stairs before finally entering another corridor. Rose had tried to protest all the stairs and Scorpius offered to carry her on his back to which she blushed and refused.

"Alright," Scorpius said, stopping abruptly in front of a blank wall, "Here we are."

"Oh!" Rose exclaimed, "I know where we are!" She turned to face him excitedly.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smiling broadly.

"Yes! We're going to the Room of Requirement, right?" she asked him eagerly, "I've never been here before, Mum wouldn't tell me where it was. She said it was a mystery I would figure out."

Scorpius nodded and as he did so, a door spiraled out of the wall in front of them. Rose watched, stunned, as the door appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Scorpius reached out to open it and watched closely as Rose entered the room, trying to gauge her expression.

The room wasn't massive but was instead cozy and warm. A fireplace crackled on one wall, a blanket laid out before it, and a plush sofa sat comfortably near the blanket. Bookshelves lined the back wall and a beautiful orange tapestry adorned the wall opposite the fireplace.

"Wow," Rose breathed.

"You like it?" Scorpius asked, sounding nervous for the first time that night.

She turned to him, "How could I not? It's wonderful."

A smile split his face and he led her to the blanket set for two.

"Rose," he whispered after they had finished eating.

"Hm?" she asked, her head rested on his shoulder as they sat on the sofa.

"I really like you," Scorpius said, "I've liked you for a long time, actually."

Rose smiled, "I've really liked you for a long time too."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, smiling, "When did you first realize you liked me?"

Rose laughed to herself, "When you spilt pumpkin juice all over me at breakfast in fifth year and then spent the rest of the morning bumbling about how sorry you were."

"I was!" Scorpius said, "I was really sorry!"

"How about you? When did you first realize you liked me?" Rose asked him.

"Christmas day in fifth year," he said, "We were the only two Ravenclaw's who stayed behind that year and you came downstairs in your flannel pajamas with the dogs all over them. You kept yawning and then you fell asleep on my shoulder."

"Sort of like how I'm about to now," Rose mumbled, her eyes sliding closed.

Scorpius chuckled, "Hey, Rose," he said quietly.

"Mhm?" she hummed and moved to look up at him.

Scorpius reached out a tentative hand and brushed her hair away from her face before letting his hand fall to her waist and pulling her close. He glanced down at her lips before pressing his lips against Roses. She came alive at his lips, one hand against his neck while the other rested against his hip. Rose kissed him back with life in her lips and stars under her eyelids. His other hand reached up to grip the other side of her waist and Rose swung a leg around his hips, a knee on each side of his legs as she hovered above him.

Scorpius' tongue hit hers gently, cautiously, and Rose accepted it eagerly. She had never been kissed like this before and it made her heart leap and her thoughts turned to fuzz. When her legs grew tired, she gave in and sat on Scorpius' lap, to which he tried not to groan. Scorpius could feel every beat of Rose's heart as it grew more erratic with each touch of their lips. He moved his lips from hers and kissed a line down her jaw and over her neck.

Rose's head fell back as he kissed her neck and she let out a breathy sigh. Scorpius smelt of mint and springtime and she wanted this to last for ages. Her skin was warm and soft under his lips and he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing but he'd seen it in Rose's muggle films and judging by the way Rose was breathing, it couldn't be too bad. Her hands ran messy strokes through his hair until it stuck up at all angles.

And before Rose knew what she was doing, she slowly ground her hips down against his and immediately felt the response. She could feel Scorpius' hard prick under his jeans and the groan he emitted against her neck caused her to pull away and look into his eyes.

"Sorry," she breathed, "I didn't mean to, you know, do what I did just then. I don't think I can do that yet. I don't know why I did that."

"Rose," he whispered like she was everything, "It's fine. I'm sorry I'm, er," he coughed, "hard. We don't have to do anything obviously. Hell, I'm not even sure I'm ready for that stuff. I just like kissing you."

Rose smiled and leant her forehead against his, "Good, I like kissing you too." She pressed a small kiss against his lips and moved so her legs draped across his and her head fell on his shoulder.

Scorpius smiled and wrapped his arms around her, leaning his head against hers, "I want to go out with you again, Rose."

"Good, I was hoping we could do this again," she mumbled against his shoulder.

Two hours later they stumbled sleepily up to Ravenclaw Tower where Rose kissed Scorpius goodnight and feel asleep with a smile on her face.


	3. January 17th, 2023

A/N: The last chapter was January 4th, 2023.

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Rose and Alice were sat upon Rose's four-poster bed on the chilly Tuesday night, sweets spread across the bed. Both were clad in pajamas, Roses being a simple pair of plaid trousers and a tee-shirt, Alices being a rather fleecy pair of blue trousers and a Chudley Cannon's tee-shirt. Rose was in the determined process of eating her way through a pile of chocolate frogs while Alice stuffed herself with licorice wands.

"How's Constance?" Rose asked, unwrapping another chocolate frog.

Alice shrugged, tossing a sherbet lemon in her mouth.

"Not all you thought she was?" Rose asked, dropping her head down onto her soft white pillow.

"Eh," Alice said, throwing her sweets wrapper at Rose, "She's fine. There's just nothing there. I don't like her like I thought I did."

"That's too bad," Rose said, swatting the wrappers away.

"Nah, it's fine," Alice said, laying down beside Rose. She popped another sherbet lemon in her mouth and hummed contentedly. She savoured moments like this, spent in peaceful atmospheres with people she loved. Alice wished she could hold onto these things forever.

They lay there for awhile, music playing softly from Rose's radio and sweets falling against their legs. It was Alice who broke the silence, "Where's Scorpius? He never misses a sweets binge."

"He'll be here later," Rose said, sucking an acid pop, "He was helping Al with charms homework."

"Leave it to Albus to ruin our weekly gathering," Alice groaned half-heartedly, far too sleepy to really put in any effort.

Rose rolled her eyes and glanced sidelong at Alice, "I swear, with the way you two bicker, you and Albus remind me of my mum and dad." She nudged Alice suggestively.

"Merlin, Rose, I do not love your cousin," Alice said.

"Whoa," Scorpius said as he crawled through the curtains and onto the bed, "What have I walked into here?"

"Nothing, you prick," Alice said, throwing a fizzing wizbee at Scorpius, which he attempted to catch in his mouth and dreadfully failed, "You're late."

"Alice, you're just pissed because I was with Albus," he said, squeezing in between Rose and Alice, "Hi, Rose."

"Hi," Rose said, entwining her hand with his and glancing at his dark pajama bottoms and black tee-shirt.

Alice sat up and tore into a bag of Every Flavor Beans and aimed one at Scorpius' mouth. He caught it easily and shuddered.

"Oh fuck, Alice," Scorpius said, spitting the bean into an empty wrapper, "I bet you knew that was an earwax one, yeah?"

Alice laughed amusedly, "I could not have known that!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah," Scorpius said, smiling, "Your turn." Alice opened her mouth and Scorpius shot a jelly bean into it.

Alice scrunched up her face, "Okay, yeah, that was definitely dirt."

"I swear," Rose interjected as Scorpius and Alice continued to toss sweets at each other, "One of these days, one of those disgusting beans is going to get caught in your throat and you'll choke to death." She shook her head but a small smile rested on her lips.

The joking and throwing of sweets continued until Alice collapsed back against the bed again and groaned, "Merlin, I feel like my stomach is going to burst."

Rose and Scorpius both nodded silently, "I'm getting that too, mate," Scorpius said, resting a weary hand on his belly.

"Why the hell do we keep doing this?" Rose pondered.

"Because it's sweets, Rose," Alice said, "How could we not keep doing this?"

The three lay quiet on the bed for awhile, so long that Rose almost thought Alice dozed off and she was sure she, herself, had nearly drifted off a few times. The warmth of the little stove heater circulated the dorm room lazily, wrapping the students in cloaks of comfort. Rose watched the steady rise and fall of Scorpius' chest under her hand, amazed she was able to simply set her hand there now, and wondered to herself how she had gotten so lucky.

Scorpius stirred then and looked over at her, his arm snugly around her shoulders, and gave her a sleepy smile, "Hi, Rosie," he murmured, his eyes threatening to fall shut and his voice tangled in drowsiness.

"Hi, Scor," Rose breathed and her breath was warm and gentle against his neck.

"You're so cute, Rose," he mumbled into her hair.

Rose hummed happily, "You're so cute too, Scorpius," she pushed the bridge of his glasses calmly, "Your glasses are cute."

"Glad you think so," Scorpius whispered with a smile before he pressed a kiss against her scalp.

Rose reached up to kiss his lips, warm and soft. Her hands crept up to his neck as he kissed her back lazily. They were kisses drenched in sleep, slow and gentle and terribly warm. Scorpius' hands had just fallen against Rose's waist when they heard a faint grumbling.

Alice woke slowly, stretching out her limbs along the length of the bed. She glanced over at the two and sighed, "You two forgot I was even here, huh?"

They blushed sheepishly.

Alice smiled lightly, "It's fine," she said, "I'll go now anyway. I've still got to finish my potions essay due tomorrow and I should also probably head back to my own common room now," and then she was quickly waving goodbye and crawling out of the bed.

Rose vanished all the sweets and tucked herself under the covers, "You can stay, you know," she told Scorpius, holding up a bit of blanket for him to climb under.

He wasn't sure why exactly but the idea of actually being under covers with Rose felt much more intimate than simply laying on top of her bed. So he slid under the covers and wrapped his arms around Rose, running his fingers through her hair. A smile found it's way to Rose's face as he did so and she wrapped an arm around his body.

"It's like a sleepover," Rose mumbled into his chest, "Except one of the guests had to leave early, sadly."

Scorpius smiled, his chin resting atop Rose's head, "It's not that sad though, I get to hold you now."

"There is that," Rose agreed.

A few moments passed as they lay there, listening to sounds of each other's breathing and the quiet thud of their heartbeats. Rose curled into his arms perfectly, listening to the wind circling the tower and the rain drumming against the window. She could feel everything right then. She could feel the way he kept running his fingertips along the bottom of her spine. She could feel his lips pressing against her head. She could feel Scorpius, warm and familiar against her, and she'd never felt so content.

"Scorpius?" Rose asked, her voice hushed.

"Hm?" he murmured sleepily.

"Are we a couple?" She asked, her voice tinged with nervousness.

"Do you want to be?" He asked.

Rose nodded against his chest, "Yeah," she whispered.

"Me too," he replied and held her even closer.

He sighed quietly and touched his lips to her temple, "I'm losing myself," his voice was softer than summer air, "I'm losing myself in you, Rose Weasley."

Rose reached up to kiss him carefully, "I lose myself in you everyday, Scorpius Malfoy."


End file.
